Leon Panetta

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U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai arrive for their joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

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U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, listens as Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, right, speaks during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

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U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta poses for a photo with troops at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, before boarding his plane and heading back to Washington. Panetta spent three days in Afghanistan meeting with troops, commanders and Afghani leaders. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

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U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta waves as he boards his plane at Kandahar Airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Panetta visited with troops and had meeting with commanders during his visit. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta performs a swear-in ceremony to reenlist four troops during his visit to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, on Dec. 14, 2012. Panetta is heading home after spending three days in Afghanistan meeting with troops, commanders and Afghani leaders. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Defense Secretary Leon Panetta listens during a Sept. 27, 2012, news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. (Associated Press)

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China's Defense Minister Liang Guanglie speaks at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, not seen, at the Bayi Building in Beijing, China Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Larry Downing, Pool)

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In this Oct. 25, 2012, file photo, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during a news conference with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, not seen, at the Pentagon, in Washington. President Barack Obama and Congress have just a few weeks to figure out how to avert the automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs totaling $110 billion next year. Those reductions are part of the so-called fiscal cliff of expiring Bush-era tax cuts and the across-the-board cuts that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned would be devastating to the military. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta reviews an honor guard during an arrival ceremony prior to meeting with Thai Minister of Defense Sukampol Suwannathat at the Ministry of Defense in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

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**FILE** Gen. John Allen (left), and Army Gen. David Petraeus (center), top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and incoming CIA Director, greet former CIA Director and new U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as he lands in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 9, 2011. (Associated Press)